With May Elections in the forefront of my mind I’d argue a Tory revival lies in the centre-right not on the failing altar of the New-Right.
The Tory leader last night rallied her right-wing MPs after Jenrick’s defection and makes clear that talk of a leftward shift is pure fantasy.
Conservative voters are sick of voting for a party that “talks Right, but governs Left”. In order, to get our voters back from Reform we should lay out a reasoned and comprehensive manifesto of distinctly Conservative policies. Time is running out.
The question of who should leave the tent has been answered for us. More right-leaning members might have liked to see the ‘wets’ leave for the Liberal Democrats, but instead, it is they who have left to join Reform—leaving us as a centre-oriented party.
When I say Liberal Democrats, what I mean is the faction that call themselves ‘One Nation Tories’
In a speech to the party faithful in the Royal Albert Hall, a hundred years ago today, the former Prime Minister coined the phrase and idea wrongly attributed to his Victorian predecessor.
Disraeli believed in our great nation, he believed in Christianity, the Monarchy, property ownership, educated and powerful leaders, and perhaps most of all, moral confidence.
Left-wing Conservatives have been in charge for 14 years, and now it’s time for a change.
It is now time for us to convene our own ‘Council of Nicaea’, with the intention of defining what it means to be a Tory, as Emperor Constantine did for Christianity.
Whatever the members choose, without a radical re-imagination and critical re-evaluation of the party’s core set of ideas and philosophy, there is no hope for the party in Parliament in providing effective opposition – nor in the next general election.
Rishi Sunak offered government assistance for the poorest with electricity bills, saved us from financial hardship, and let me save so I could marry the woman I love.
Establishing an alternative vehicle for centre-right politics will be immensely difficult; trying to re-establish a sensible Tory Party may be the least worst option. But my vote would still be in doubt.
The choice people face is to stick with us on a clear plan to prosperity, or risk all of the progress we have made with a vote for a Labour Party who have so few plans that they all fit on a credit card-sized leaflet.
It’s going to take a lot more than a few pennies off National Insurance to save the Conservative Party from what looks set to be a looming election defeat.
Voters do not judge us by our ideological purity, they judge us by whether the bins are collected, the schools are improving, and the state of the local high street and economy. The success of the Party at general elections is built on local Conservative politicians achieving this.